Cobblestone StreetsThe Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy

Jersey City was once known for its cobblestone streets as
pictured above on Holland Street. Today there are so few remaining that
that the Landmarks Conservancy has worked to preserve the Holland Street
cobbles, a former carriage road that slopes down the Palisades between
Palisade Avenue and Paterson Plank Road. According to John Gomez, former
president of the Conservancy, "Cobblestone consisted of either blue-tinted
basalt blocks blasted locally from the Palisades or gem-encrusted granite
imported from distance quarries" ("Hudson's Streets of Stone
Link Us to Past." Jersey Journal 17 November 2004.)

Gomez also remarks how the cobbles were a sign of transportation
advancement for Jersey City over other communities: "In the late
19th century, stone pavements (sometimes called 'specification blocks')
were considered a sign of municipal prosperity and regarded as physical
improvements tantamount to new fire hydrants, electric lamp poles, brick
sewer lines and flagstone curbing."